The Waitress
by Reiji Ishiya
Summary: "Cleaning up the shop after hours has to be the worst possible thing that can happen tonight." /In which the biggest understatement ever leads to something new./ Sequel to Fanning the Flames.
1. Come In

**Yola, welcome to 'The Waitress,' sequel to Fanning the Flames. It will _hopefully _be only two chapters long, and because I want you to read the story instead of the author's intro, (or whatever you call this) I'll tell you more later.**

**So what are you waiting for, read!**

* * *

><p><em><span>The Waitress<span>_

_You have got to be…._

For what seemed like the thousandth time this night, the boss was yelling at me. ("_Hey you, clean table 4. Go help the chef with the dishes. Blah blah blah…"_)_ And_ for what _must have been _time number one thousand and one, _I had_ _had enough_. But _of course_ I won't say anything, no matter how much my pride is _begging _me, because I _need _this job for the money I'm saving for college.

"Hey Izuki, were you listening to what I just said_?" _There goes the boss _again_, always messing up my name. (_It's Izumi!_) I turn my attention to him, promptly pretending that I heard everything he said.(_I was really staring at the clock. It's 8:30, which means only 15 minutes left 'til I can leave!_) "Um…yeah, Mr. Mirako." I smiled and shook my head, feeling like some kind of idiot.

"No, you weren't. Stop lying. I _was _going to send you home for the day, seeing as it is almost time to close, but _now…_you get to stay after and help Hannah close up shop." My heart sank. I _hate _closing up shop. I _hate _how I can't go home and lay in my bed right now. And I _really hate…_

"Hannah! Just the girl I was looking for! You and Zucchini are going to close the restaurant for the night. You're in charge, so keep an eye out for anything that she might try to do." She just smiled at him, before turning to me with some 'in your face' thing that she likes to do.

_Oh, I'll tell you where your face can go!_

"Ok then, Mr. Boss. I'll do my very best to make sure she doesn't do anything too bad. But if it's ok to correct you, my name is _Hana, _not Hannah." And she keeps on smiling that stupid looking smile at that big, fat, balding…_jerk._ (_If you haven't noticed, I don't like swearing. It's not proper._)

"I'm sorry Hana. My bad." He stares at her, coal eyes glimmering in a _strange _sort of excitement. "Perhaps I can make it up to you some time." I think his eyebrows just wiggled. (_EW._)

She's smirking, almost _predator-like_, before she answers. "I'm _sure you can_, but not right now. Don't you have to be going now, boss?" She winks, and I swear I'm just about ready to staple my ears shut and rip out my eyeballs.

"Oh, you're right. Thank you, Hana, for reminding me." I turn away as he hugs her, because I'm pretty sure I just saw his hand drop _pretty far._ "Remember to close up. Don't answer for _anyone _who comes knocking, we're closed." He stops for a second, then stares right at me before he continues. "_Don't mess this up." _All I can think, (_besides 'Holy son of a mother, is that her lipstick on his neck!') _is that this is going to be a _long _night.

-T-

"You have gotta be kidding, Dad! What do you mean that you can't come and get me?" You're yelling, even though you _know _you shouldn't be getting angry at your _last chance _for a ride home, but you can't help but be a _little pissed._ (_That, by the way, is an understatement._) It's not _completely _your fault that _everyone but you _got the text message correcting your practice time.

_But now that you look back on it, who would believe soccer practice would start at 8:45 p.m.?_

You can hear the audible sigh through the receiver. "_Look Takuya, I can't come and get you right now. I just sent Shinya out to look for you. I'll be there to pick you both up as soon as I get done with some business at home. It'll be about an hour and a half, maybe more. Just find somewhere to stay out of the rain."_

He hangs up before you can reply. You put the payphone back on the…_whatever _that thing they hang on is called. '_Damn, what am I going to do in an hour and a half?_' You begin to think about where you are (_who knows?_), slightly positive you _possibly _saw an eating establishment a couple blocks away. You decide to walk there, but pause momentarily.

"What did Dad mean about rain? It's not-" As if Kouji (_who hates you…sort of_) was suddenly in control of the weather, rain began to pour in torrents from the sky, drenching your clothes in the process. "I just _had_ to ask, didn't I?" you ask as your walk becomes a sprint towards the _possible _restaurant.

-Z-

Hana taps me on the shoulder as I finish putting the silverware into the napkins. (_Because, if you've ever wondered, no they just don't come like wrapped up nice and neat._) "Hey Zimbabwe," (_Can't ANYONE get my name right?_) "you all right by yourself? I got to go or I'll be late for this _awesome _party." I stare at her incredulously. This _idiota _is serious!

"_Sure I am_, and while you're out partying, I'll just sit and _fold up napkins all day!_" (_That, dear readers, is sarcasm at its finest._) She smiled, probably stupid enough to believe all that sarcasm was how I _really felt_. (_She's blonde, so it kind of makes sense… uh, forget I said – thought – that!_) She turned to walk out the door, but stopped as she saw a lone figure running toward the restaurant.

_I _was ready to call the police, having already sprinted toward the emergency alarm. (_Yeah, we have one. Mr. Mirako is paranoid, like "he carries around aluminum foil for protection from aliens- paranoid."_) But _Hana _is just standing there gaping at him like he's some…

_Really good looking guy._

She reaches out to open the door, but I give her a quick '_what the heck are you doing?' _face, and she stops…to flip me off and open the door anyway.

_Remember Zoe, cussing people out is bad…even if they deserve it._

-T-

You find the restaurant after several minutes of running (_in the rain_), so it's quite a relief to see the bright letters of _'Miracle Restaurant & Bar'_ above the small building. You break out into a sprint, hoping to get the _hell _out of the rain, hoping that one of the two people you can barely make out will see you and open the door. (_That sure was a mouthful._)

Thankfully, one of them does, and you are glad to shake off the excess water as you step in, feeling quite...like a canine. (_Some people might call it acting like an idiot, but you call it having fun._) You turn to the person who opened the door, and upon closer inspection, (_not like that_) you figure out it was a girl. _Correction_, both (_and not surprisingly, the only_) workers are female.

"Uh, thanks for opening the door (_you take the time to look at her nametag_) _Hannah_. The weather and I don't exactly agree on how to act today." She laughs, and you're not really sure why. (_It wasn't funny._) "Oh, I'm Takuya, by the way." Hannah takes you by the hand and shakes it firmly, her eyelashes batting like…someone who uses bats...a lot. (_Baseball players! That's what you wanted to say!_)

_Why are her eyelashes batting like she's…Oh._

"Um, do you have something in your eye?" You're unsure of why you said that, as you _are_ well aware of what she's _trying to do_, but you suppose it stems from the fact that she's just not _that _pretty to you. You're not really a guy who goes for blondes that often. If it was up to you, you'd never deal with them on account of how (_normally_) every blond you've met either was like Hannah (_too flirty_) or just…

_Out of your league?_

You snap from your reverie (_and people call you stupid! Look at that big word!_) as you hear laughter. You turn to the other girl, listening to her laugh, before deciding that you need to get _the hell out. Now._

_You're not going to believe why._

You _know _that laugh. You've played it in your head for little over a week. That girl…is Izumi Orimoto. A girl you dated. (_Once._) A girl you never called back, even though you said you were going to.

_A girl who's WAY out of your league._

* * *

><p><strong>So...what do you think? <strong>

**Originally, this started out as a 'cure' to my Digital War writer's block, but the plot bunny decided to pull a Bugs Bunny and escape from me. The story was also (and still kinda is) dedicated to...anybody who's REVIEWed or read any of those Takumi stories from way back when. I can't express how grateful I am to you for it. Special props goes to...utsukushii04! Thanks for REVIEWing like every Takumi story I wrote! **

**If you have any questions, comments, or concerns (i.e. _'What is Takuya's dad doing at home?' 'Is Shinya going to appear?' or 'When is Digital War getting a new chapter?') _drop by with a REVIEW or message me. I don't bite. See ya next chapter!**

**-Reiji**

**P.S. Any or every blonde person reading this, please note that I hope that the above views the characters expressed about blondes have not offended you, and I apologize profusely if they did. **


	2. Eat In

_**Disclaimer: **__**I own absolutely 100% of this, unless it belongs to someone else.**_

**And I bet you thought I was joking about the hint. :-) Enjoy.**

**Oh, props to anyone who _found _the hint! I've heard it took a while.**

* * *

><p><em>The Patron (Eat In)<em>

_There is no way this could be happening now…_

You want to run. Like right now. Like right _fucking _now, even though it's raining (_it's pouring, my old man is probably snoring…_) and you hate getting wet. And you can't stand the thought that this is happening because of a _girl. _

_Or rather, _THAT _girl. _

It's not like you don't like Izumi! Far from it! She has got to be one of the most tremendously beautiful women that you've ever seen, and that's saying something, because you once dated a model. (_A hand model, but still…it kind of counts._) But the fact that you, Takuya Kanbara, master of flirting (_self-proclaimed; want to try me?_), are completely scared shitless because of…_the girl who's standing right in front of you._

_Shit._

– _Z _–

I decide that, due to the fact that the weather is horrible and Takuya must be soaked, he was probably cold. When I express the thought to Hana, she makes a crude comment about '_warming his bones the old fashioned way,_' and I leave to ask him if he wants a drink. Or, I would have if he'd been paying attention.

After a couple of seconds of waiting, in which he seems to _almost maybe _be avoiding me, I clear my throat. He jumps faster than a scalded cat, eyes flittering about the room as he suddenly yells out "_The answer is 42, Ms. Hadokin!" _Then he seems to notice where he is, before locking eyes with me, face red and embarrassed.

I giggle. He stares, laughs nervously, then stares some more. It is…unnerving, to say the least. (_Well, okay, it is kinda creepy._) I clear my throat again, making sure that he is definitely (_maybe_) paying attention before speaking. "So," I pause to get the right words (_none of which are "Why are you staring at me_?") "Takuya, did you want something?" (_And failed._) He blinks like he's confused, and then looks at my uniform. Realization dawns on his face.

"_Oh, you meant, like…from the restaurant. Huh. This is awkward._" He mumbles, and I raise an eyebrow questioningly. "_Oh crap. I think you heard that. You weren't supposed to._" He covers his mouth, and then smacks himself in the forehead, leaving me to wonder if his sanity is still out in the storm. "_Wait, that came out wrong. Still awkward. Let me try again._" Then he slaps himself twice, makes a rewind noise with his mouth, and says, "_I'd like an apple juice, please._"

I nod and smile brilliantly like I was trained to do, inwardly thinking that was both dorky and adorable (_adorkable?_). Then Hana comes over, and because of our intense mutual dislike of each other, my training is chucked out of the window into the pouring rain, along with my smile.

-T-

_Smooth as sandpaper, Kanbara._

That…you…_fuck. _Just…_fuck. _That didn't work. At all. You were totally going to run, like you said, but then Izumi was _right there! _And she was talking to you, and asking if you wanted something. So you were totally going to say something cool like '_yeah, an extra tall order of you to go,' _but then _that damn uniform _had to be there! It's just so…_distracting_! (_I mean, she just…it looks…damn. You hope the apple juice is _cold_._)

But, yeah, now you're stuck here until Izumi gets back with the apple juice. (_Apple juice?! What were you thinking? Kids drink apple juice! You should've got something mature…like milk! No…wait!_) To make matters worse, you're stuck listening to the coworker with dust stuck in her eyes – _What was her name? Hammer? Hamtaro? Hamburger? Whatever. – _who is going _on and on and on _about herself while showing no regard whatsoever for your personal boundaries.

_Man, you're really hoping that your apple juice gets here like A.S.A. now._

-Z-

After I get the glass from the dishwasher in the back and fill it with apple juice, (_seriously, how _adorable _is that?_) I take some of the leftover pieces of cake that I was saving _(and totally not stealing so I could eat them later_) and bring them out front. Sure, it's a weird combination, but cake seems like a good way to say '_sorry you have to deal with my crazy, slutty coworker…and the weather…and my coworker. Did I mention her? Because I really am _that _sorry.' _

Sure enough, I spot the two of them at the table, Hana vainly trying to seduce him with all of the subtlety (_and ugliness/morbid fascination_) of a train wreck. Ignoring her questioning glare, I set the drink down along with the cake slices, sitting myself down across from the two of them. Takuya flashes me a quick smile (_which, for future reference, does not help boost resolve to _not _hug somebody for being a really great person who ignores stupid blond bi-…never mind._) before partaking in the ancient tradition of enjoying free food.

_Of course, everything went downhill from there._

-T-

You don't notice the death glares flying across the table until you're well into your piece of cake. You defend yourself with the age old excuse of cake clearly being a gift from the gods of dessert, happiness, and high cholesterol (_…yeah, it's as sad as it is true._), but it's still a pretty flimsy one at best. You decide to break the tension as smoothly as possible. "So," you say in between (_now awkward_) sips of your apple juice, "what's eating you guys?"

There's a moment where you _swear _that you heard a reply of "_nothing yet" _from the right, but you're not really sure. The silence stretches on and on, up to a point where you can't understand how it's lasted so long, before…uh…not-Zoe (_Hamlet? Hampton? Handel?_) speaks. "Nothing, handsome. It's just…you got me all wet" (_you managed to suppress both a spit take _and _the urge to make a joke_) "after that stunt you pulled when you came in earlier, and now I'm really cold. Mind lending me your shirt so I can warm up?"

You fail to see how that's an effective strategy, seeing as the _shirt _(_as well as_ _the magnificence that is your jacket_) is still wet too, and voicing such thoughts ends up causing _not-_Zoe to pout and Izumi to laugh. _(Of course, _more_ death glares get thrown around because of that, but you got to hear _that laugh_ again which, by default, makes it a win in your books.)_

* * *

><p><strong>So...I was going to post this on Wednesday or Thursday, but life* got in the way. (*Life being an Agents of Shield binge watching session &amp; college stuff. <em>Mostly <em>AoS tho.)**

**Love it? Hate it? Want more? Want it gone? Want to talk? Tell me in a review. I promise you won't regret it.** (**You will regret any jokes I leave in a reply though.)**

**See you soon (if finals don't kill me/my creativity first)! **


End file.
